Patton Media Blog

Give to the Gulf Effort Announced!

Worldwide Relief Effort by Musicians To benefit Citizens of the
Gulf Coast Oil spill Catastrophy Kicks off in Hartford

Connecticut Based Collaboration of Entrepreneurs and Musicians Creates a National Gulf Anthem and Leads the Way in Building a New Online Model for Charitable Giving

Hartford, CT (July 7, 2010) – Moved by the desire to make a difference in the lives of those impacted by the devastating oil spill disaster in the Gulf, a small group of four entrepreneurs and musicians from Connecticut and Maryland came together in just three short weeks to create an innovative online fundraising campaign. Give To The Gulf™, a website that encourages giving through music, was officially launched today with a celebration at L&R Productions in East Hartford.

Musical artists from around the world have joined forces through the Give To The Gulf Web portal to help to rebuild lives and communities reeling from the latest man-made disaster to hit their shores.

“All over America people are asking how can I help my fellow Americans in the Gulf? We thought it could be as simple as sharing music, downloading a song,” said Eric Knight of Unionville Connecticut. “We went into the studio and did not come out until we had an anthem that we think will inspire the world to assist our brothers and sisters in need.”

Give To The Gulf, Volume 1 features eleven original songs by accomplished musicians including the TITLE TRACK: Give To The Gulf.

When website visitors download music from Give To The Gulf through iTunes, 100 percent of the monies that musicians would normally receive go directly to the United Way Gulf Recovery Fund. The Fund provides emergency assistance, such as help with food, rent and utilities, and supports long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives through educational, financial and health-related programs.

Give To The Gulf is about taking action locally to be part of the global solution. The name is the brain child of Eric Knight, a musician, inventor and founder of Remarkable Technologies, Inc. Working together with Paul Lombardo and Tom Russo of L&R Productions Inc., and Mike Sokol of JMS Productions Inc. in Maryland, they developed the online model for the website portal, collaborated with musicians from around the world, and established relationships with corporate partners including iTunes and TuneCore.com to make Give To The Gulf a reality.

The concept of Give To The Gulf is simple – by giving money, people get great music. Musicians from around the world who submit their music to be part of the fundraising effort retain all ownership and copyrights to their music. Once submitted, the website acts as a conduit to Apple’s iTunes system under the Give to the Gulf music label umbrella.

“I simply could not be more proud of what we’re accomplishing for Gulf-coast residents,” said Eric Knight. “What started as a simple phrase — ‘Give To The Gulf’ — that popped into my head about six weeks ago has blossomed into a wonderful collaboration of people with very generous hearts. Fueled by technology, it is refreshing to see how the power of people and ideas can accomplish great things for our fellow citizens.”

Give to the Gulf is an all-volunteer effort. Partners who have donated their time and talents to launch this campaign include: Remarkable Technologies, L&R Productions, JMS Productions, TuneCore, Patton Media, Video2People and MAD Communications.

It should be noted that Give to the Gulf is Eric Knight’s second contribution to help with the oil spill catastrophe. In April, he designed an innovative method to stop the oil flow, which gained attention early on in the disaster, as seen here www.remarkable.com/oil_spill_solution.html.

Search Patton Media

From the Blog

Strategic Marketing, Video Production and Web Services

Patton Media was founded to offer our clients a wealth of talent, experience and services without agency overhead. We develop and deliver media relations, video production, web development and graphic design projects from concept to completion. We determine what makes your company distinct to ensure that your market positioning is strong and then we get to work helping you tell your story. We work with you to identify the proper tools to reach your target audience to achieve your marketing objectives.